Rafael Nadal on Sunday set up a blockbuster French Open quarter-final against world No. 1 Novak Djokovic when he defeated Felix Auger-Aliassime in a five-set fourth-round epic and pledged to “fight until the end.”
Nadal, the 13-time champion at Roland Garros and holder of a record 21 Grand Slam titles, triumphed over the Canadian 3-6, 6-3, 6-2, 3-6, 6-3 in a match which lasted 4 hours, 21 minutes.
It was only the third time in his 17-year, 112-match career in Paris that Nadal had been stretched to five sets.
Photo: AFP
Nadal and Djokovic are to meet for the 10th time at Roland Garros and 59th overall in a rivalry stretching back to 2006.
“We know each other well, we have a lot of history. The only thing I can say is that I will be focused, try my best and fight until the end,” said Nadal on facing the defending champion.
Djokovic has been responsible for two of Nadal’s three defeats in Paris — in the quarter-finals in 2015 and last year’s semi-finals.
Nadal hailed 21-year-old Auger-Aliassime, who has been working with his uncle and former coach Toni since April last year.
“Felix is a great player. He’s very young with a lot of power and great mobility,” said the 35-year-old Spaniard, who has made the last eight for the 16th time.
Djokovic also reached the quarter-finals for the 16th time when he eased to a 6-1, 6-3, 6-3 victory against 15th seed Diego Schwartzman of Argentina.
“It’s a huge challenge and probably the biggest one that you can have here in Roland Garros. I’m ready for it,” Djokovic said of facing his old rival.
Djokovic is still to drop a set at Roland Garros after cruising through the first week.
He has also won 22 sets in a row, stretching back to his Italian Open title triumph in Rome earlier this month.
Auger-Aliassime said he was happy with his performance.
“He raised his level when he needed to. I did what I had to do. He was dictating, aggressive when he needed to and also defending really well,” the Canadian said.
Djokovic or Nadal could face Spanish teenage sensation Carlos Alcaraz in the semi-finals.
The 19-year-old romped into his first French Open quarter-final with a 6-1, 6-4, 6-4 win over Russian Karen Khachanov.
“I had a great match from start to finish,” said sixth seed Alcaraz, who faces German third seed Alexander Zverev in the last eight.
The teenager defeated Zverev in the Madrid Masters final earlier this month after also knocking out Djokovic and Nadal.
It was a second successive straight-sets win for Alcaraz after saving a match point when winning a second-round thriller against compatriot Albert Ramos-Vinolas.
Alcaraz is the youngest man in the last eight since Djokovic in 2006.
Zverev reached the quarter-finals by ending Spanish qualifier Bernabe Zapata Miralles’ run with a 7-6 (13/11), 7-5, 6-3 victory.
In the wide open women’s singles, which saw nine of the top 10 seeds fall before the second week, US teenager Coco Gauff set up a quarter-final duel with compatriot Sloane Stephens.
Gauff, 18, reached the last eight for the second successive year with a 6-4, 6-0 win over Belgium’s Elise Mertens, while 2018 runner-up Stephens defeated 23rd seed Jil Teichmann of Switzerland 6-2, 6-0.
Canadian teenager Leylah Fernandez reached the quarter-finals for the first time.
Fernandez, seeded 17th, fired an impressive 40 winners past 2019 semi-finalist Amanda Anisimova to secure a 6-3, 4-6, 6-3 win.
She next faces Martina Trevisan, the world No. 59 from Italy, who edged out Aliaksandra Sasnovich from Belarus 7-6 (12/10), 7-5.
In the third round of the women’s doubles, Maryna Zanevska and Kimberley Zimmermann rallied from a set down to defeat Sam Stosur of Australia and Taiwan’s Latisha Chan 1-6, 6-3, 6-4.
Additional reporting by staff writer
SSC Napoli’s Italian Serie A title hopes suffered a late setback on Sunday when they were held to a 2-2 draw at home against Genoa, setting up a thrilling season finale with closest rivals Inter just one point behind. The hosts remain top with 78 points, holding a slim lead over Inter, who won 2-0 at Torino earlier on Sunday, with two rounds remaining. To make matters worse for Napoli, midfielder Stanislav Lobotka, struggling with an ankle injury, was forced off just minutes after the match began. Scott McTominay delivered a perfect pass into the box where Romelu Lukaku got
Harry Kane opened the scoring ahead of lifting his first career silverware as Bayern Munich beat Borussia Moenchengladbach 2-0, with veteran Thomas Mueller playing his last home game for the club. Bayern officially won the title on May 4 when defending champions Bayer Leverkusen were held to a 2-2 draw at Freiburg, but were presented with the Bundesliga shield in front of their home fans at full-time. Dripping wet after being showered with beer by teammates, Kane said the title win was “an incredible feeling,” and hoped it would be “the first of many.” “It’s been lot of hard work, a lot of
INTER AWAIT: Superb saves by PSG ’keeper Gianluigi Donnarumma inspired the victory, as Arsenal were punished for misses, including one by Bukayo Saka Arsenal on Wednesday fell short on the big stage again as their painful UEFA Champions League semi-final exit against Paris Saint-Germain left Mikel Arteta to rue his club’s failure to provide him with enough attacking options. Arteta’s side were unable to reach the Champions League final for the first time in 19 years as PSG clinched a tense 2-1 win at Parc des Princes. Trailing 1-0 from last week’s first leg in London, the Gunners made a blistering start to the second leg, but could not convert their chances as Gianluigi Donnarumma’s superb saves inspired PSG’s 3-1 aggregate victory. Arsenal were punished for
Taiwanese e-sports veteran Lin “ET” Chia-hung yesterday successfully defended his King of Fighters XV title at this year’s Evolution Championship Series: Japan (EVO Japan), securing his second consecutive championship. Lin claimed victory with a 3-1 win over Japanese pro gamer “mok” in the grand final, repeating his earlier 3-1 win against the same opponent in the winners’ final. The 40-year-old earned a ￥1 million (US$6,897) cash prize at the two-day tournament, which drew 294 competitors. Mok, Lin’s toughest rival in the bracket, took home ￥400,000 as runner-up. Lin remains undefeated in match sets against mok in King of Fighters XV, holding a 10-0 record,
RSS